Birth, Suffering, and Death: Catholic Perspectives at the Edges of Life

Foreword to the Series; E. Pellegrino. Preface; F. Abel, J.C. Harvey. Finitude, Religion, and Medicine: The Search for Meaning in the Post-Modern World; K.Wm. Wildes. Section I: Medical Background and Ethical Issues. Edges of Life: The Consequences of Prenatal Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment; R. Cefalo. The Frail Elderly Person and Those Suffering From Dementia; J.C. Harvey. The HIV Infection; E. Cassem. Artificial Feeding and Hydration in Advanced Illness; P. Storey. Section II: Theological Perspectives. Dignity, Solidarity, and the Sanctity of Human Life; A. Autiero. Dominion or Stewardship?: Theological Reflections; B. Ashley. Sharing Responsibility at the Edges of Life; D. Bader. When the Dying Person Looks Me in the Face: An Ethics of Responsibility for Dealing With the Problem of the Patient in a Persistently Vegetative State; P. Schotsmans. Life as a Good and Our Obligations to Persistently Vegetative Patients; K.Wm. Wildes. Section III: Moral Quandaries. Pain Relief: Ethical Issues and Catholic Teaching; K. O'Rourke. Why almost any Cost to Others to Preserve the Life of the Irreversibly Comatose Constitutes an Extraordinary Means; T.J. Bole, III. The Catholic Tradition on the Use of Nutrition and Fluids; J. Paris. Appendices. The Prolongation of Life; Pope Pius XII. Declaration on Euthanasia; Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Index.